Swiss right-wingers seek ban on minarets

Switzerland

Eliane Engeler, Associated Press

Published
4:00 am PST, Saturday, November 28, 2009

FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2009 file photo a man passes by a poster of the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) which shows a woman wearing a burqa against a background of a Swiss flag upon which several minarets resemble missiles at the central station in Geneva, Switzerland. An attempt to ban the construction of minarets in Switzerland has set off an emotional debate on Islam in the Alpine nation, stirring fears of boycotts from Muslim countries and of violent reactions. (AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi, File) less

FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2009 file photo a man passes by a poster of the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) which shows a woman wearing a burqa against a background of a Swiss flag upon which several ... more

Photo: Salvatore Di Nolfi, AP

Photo: Salvatore Di Nolfi, AP

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FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2009 file photo a man passes by a poster of the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) which shows a woman wearing a burqa against a background of a Swiss flag upon which several minarets resemble missiles at the central station in Geneva, Switzerland. An attempt to ban the construction of minarets in Switzerland has set off an emotional debate on Islam in the Alpine nation, stirring fears of boycotts from Muslim countries and of violent reactions. (AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi, File) less

FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2009 file photo a man passes by a poster of the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) which shows a woman wearing a burqa against a background of a Swiss flag upon which several ... more

Photo: Salvatore Di Nolfi, AP

Swiss right-wingers seek ban on minarets

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The campaign posters are inflammatory: minarets rising like missiles from the national flag.

A proposal championed by right-wing parties to ban minarets in Switzerland goes to a nationwide vote today in a referendum that has set off an emotional debate about national identity and stirred fears of boycotts and violent reactions from Muslim countries.

Business leaders say a minaret ban would be disastrous for the Swiss economy because it could drive away wealthy Muslims who bank in Switzerland, buy the country's luxury goods and frequent its resorts.

The vote taps into anxieties about Muslims that have been rippling through Europe in recent years, ranging from French fears of women in body veils to Dutch alarm over the murder by a Muslim fanatic of a filmmaker who made a documentary that criticized Islam.

Polls indicate growing support for the proposal submitted by the anti-immigrant Swiss People's Party, but it was doubtful it will gain enough momentum to pass. Muslims in Switzerland have kept a low profile, refraining from a counter-campaign.

The nationalist Swiss People's Party has led several campaigns against foreigners, including a proposal to kick out entire families of foreigners if one of their children breaks a law and a bid to subject citizenship applications to a popular vote.

The party's controversial posters have shown three white sheep kicking out a black sheep and a swarm of brown hands grabbing Swiss passports from a box.

The Swiss People's Party joined forces with the fringe Federal Democratic Union in the campaign. They say they are acting to fight the spread of political Islam, arguing the minaret represents a bid for power and is not just a religious symbol.

Minarets are typically built next to mosques for religious leaders to call the faithful to prayer. Between 350,000 and 400,000 of Switzerland's 7.5 million people are Muslims. Many are from families who came to Switzerland as refugees from former Yugoslavia during the 1990s.